Yellow Branch Falls

Date: Saturday, February 20, 2010
Location / Map

Trails: Nature, Falls
Distance: 1 mile
Time: about 1 hour

Rating: && (out of 5)

Kerri was under the weather today, so I took both kids on a little hike. The plan was for Andy to ride in the backpack, but he quickly let it be know that he wasn't down with that. I wore the pack anyway, and we started on the Nature trail a little after 10am. It was a (rare) sunny and not-freezing-cold morning!

There are 3 or 4 stream crossings on this trail, where you have to step on rocks to get across. At the first one, I told James to wait while I carried Andy across and I would come back to help him. Alas, he didn't listen, and got his shoes soaking wet. He cried, but learned his lesson, and had to finish the hike with cold wet feet. Needless to say, after that he waited for me to help him cross.

When we came to the turnoff for the Falls trail, we took it, crossed the bridge, and walked down to the next stream crossing and had a welcome snack. After that, Andy was tired of walking and I was able to get him in the backpack. James had found the best toddler-sized hiking stick ever, and he insisted on being the "line leader". Both kids started getting cranky, but a couple of "pop-pops" solved that problem in a hurry and they were happy for the rest of the hike. We re-traced our steps on the Falls trail, then turned right to finish out the Nature trail loop back to the car.

I told James he could keep his hiking stick, but as that went against what I always told him in the past ("we don't take anything with us") he went on his own to throw the stick back into the woods. "We have to leave everything here, Daddy".